Briefly: Here you go, fans: be happy. THR is reporting that Peter Jackson is negotiating a deal to direct the two halves of The Hobbit himself.

He’s talking to Warner Bros., MGM and New Line right now, and Deadline says that he’s been busy extracting himself from other obligations. What does that do to Tintin? Deadline also says that Jackson directing has been a primary factor in getting MGM to schedule The Hobbit to shoot at the end of this year. I.e., without Jackson would the films not happen at all? Is that why he might direct now when he’d previously proclaimed total disinterest in the job? That’s probably a moot question at this point, though hopefully he’s not essentially being strong-armed into making these movies. Wouldn’t bode well for the films.

More on this as it filters out. There’s probably no one who can make these films quite like Jackson, but I would rather have seen Guillermo del Toro or someone like Sam Raimi direct. After the mess that was The Lovely Bones, Jackson might need a small movie or two to refresh himself, and this project definitely won’t provide that. I’d hate to see him totally burned out by making The Hobbit.